New Mexico Statutes Chapter 22. Public Schools § 22-13-6. Special education; definitions

A. “special education” means the provision of services additional to, supplementary to or different from those provided in the regular school program by a systematic modification and adaptation of instructional techniques, materials and equipment to meet the needs of exceptional children;

B. “exceptional children” means school-age persons whose abilities render regular services of the public school to be inconsistent with their educational needs;

C. “children with disabilities” means those children who are classified as developmentally disabled according to the Developmental Disabilities Act and the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act;

D. “gifted child” means a school-age person who is determined to be gifted pursuant to Section 22-13-6.1 NMSA 1978 and standards adopted by the department pursuant to that section. Nothing in this section shall preclude a school district or charter school from offering additional gifted programs for students who fail to meet the eligibility criteria; however, the state shall only provide state funds for department-approved gifted programs for those students who meet the established criteria;

E. “dyslexia” means a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin and that is characterized by difficulty with accurate or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities, which characteristics typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction and may result in problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that may impede the growth of vocabulary and background knowledge;

F. “response to intervention” means a multitiered intervention model that uses a set of increasingly intensive academic or behavioral supports, matched to student need, as a framework for making educational programming and eligibility decisions; and

G. “student assistance team” means a school-based group whose purpose, based on procedures and guidelines established by the department, is to provide additional educational support to students who are experiencing difficulties that are preventing them from benefiting from general instruction.